Dan Callahan in a playful close-up selfie on a golf putting green beside the cup, with his putter and a golf ball

Bring the Enthusiasm!

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Dan Callahan in a playful close-up selfie on a golf putting green beside the cup, with his putter and a golf ball“There can be no success without enthusiasm. The secret of a full life is lots of enthusiasm, the kind that keeps you fighting and winning over all obstacles…” (Alfred Krebs)

That line opened this morning’s Your Daily Reprieve, and what a way to kick off the first day of November! It’s a good reminder that enthusiasm isn’t extra credit in recovery. It’s part of the engine.

Let’s be honest, though. Recovery doesn’t always feel exciting. The pink cloud fades, the bills still come, and some mornings the coffee just isn’t strong enough. That’s normal. The good news is that enthusiasm isn’t something you’re either born with or not. You can practice it, and practicing it is one of the best ways I know to stay motivated in recovery for the long haul.

Years ago I wrote a short post called EnthUUUUsiasm about where the word comes from: the Greek entheos, “God within.” I still love that. Real enthusiasm isn’t hype or noise. It’s what happens when we let God’s life move through ours.

Enthusiasm makes the world go round

Today’s Reprieve also shared this from Robert H. Schauffler: “Enthusiasm is the thing which makes the world go round. Without its driving power, nothing worth doing has ever been done.”

Think about the good things recovery has given you. A clear head in the morning. A relationship that’s healing. A job, a home, a laugh with a friend. None of it showed up by accident. Somebody cared enough to keep showing up, and very often that somebody was you.

In my book Recovery Thinking, 90-Days to Change Your Life! I wrote: “Life is meant to be enjoyed and not to be endured. That is the key to reasonable happiness.” Enthusiasm is the difference between enduring a sober day and enjoying one.

Hope is the fuel

Today’s reading in Twenty-Four Hours a Day opens with three short sentences worth taping to the refrigerator: “I have hope. That magic thing that I had lost or misplaced. The future looks dark no more.”

Hope and enthusiasm travel together. When hope goes missing, so does our spark. When hope comes back, it brings the energy to get up and go. And look at where the reading says hope comes from: “Hope is justified by many right nows, by the rightness of the present.” Not some big someday. Right now. This sober hour, this cup of coffee, this phone call to a friend.

Scripture says it beautifully: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13 (ESV). That isn’t a demand. It’s a blessing. God wants to fill us up, and a full cup tends to spill over onto everyone nearby.

Gratitude is the spark

The Reprieve carried one more line, from the Grapevine (Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1982), that made me grin: “Complaining is not an action step.”

Complaining drains enthusiasm faster than just about anything. Gratitude fills it back up. The Meditation for the Day in Twenty-Four Hours a Day offers the simplest practice: “We can say a prayer of thanks to God every day for His grace, which has kept us on the right way and allowed us to start living the good life.”

November is the month a lot of us spend thinking about thanks. Why wait for the turkey? Start today.

Five ways to stay motivated in recovery today

  1. Give thanks before your feet hit the floor. Name three things you’re grateful for, out loud if you can. It’s hard to grumble and give thanks at the same time.
  2. Say a morning affirmation. In Faith, Courage and Enthuuuuuusiasm!!! I shared the one from my Morning Mental Workout: today I will win, because I have faith, courage, and enthusiasm. Write your own and say it like you mean it.
  3. Trade one complaint for one action. When you catch yourself griping, ask, “What’s one thing I can do about this?” Then do it, even if it’s small.
  4. Act enthusiastic before you feel it. In Success-Full, Living Life with Purpose: Recovery Mode, I wrote: “If you want to be happy, do what happy people do!” Smile at the cashier, put on some music, or walk a little faster. Feelings often follow actions.
  5. Spend time with people who light you up. Enthusiasm is contagious, and so is encouragement. Call someone from your mutual support circle, cheer on a newcomer, or read something hopeful instead of the evening news.

Let it spill over

Here’s what I’ve learned after more than 40 years in human services: enthusiasm is one of the most underrated recovery tools we have. It isn’t about being loud or pretending everything is perfect. It’s about remembering that we’ve been given a second chance and deciding to live it fully.

Enthusiasm, God within. Hope, one right now. Gratitude, every single day. That’s a pretty good recipe for a sober life. Life is GOOOOOOOD!!!

Here’s my question for you: What’s one thing you can do today to bring a little more enthusiasm to your recovery, and who could you share it with?

Go, Go, Go… Dan 🙂

Books quoted in this post:

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A note on anonymity: Although I quote the AA Grapevine and other recovery literature here, nothing in this post should be taken to imply my membership in any specific mutual support group, in keeping with Tradition Eleven.

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Reflection note: I wrote this from my own daily readings. Quotes belong to their original authors and sources (Alfred Krebs, Robert H. Schauffler, and the Grapevine, Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1982, via Your Daily Reprieve, November 1; Twenty-Four Hours a Day, November 1, Hazelden, via Daily Ponderables; Romans 15:13, English Standard Version; Success-Full, Living Life with Purpose: Recovery Mode; Recovery Thinking, 90-Days to Change Your Life!). I used AI to help organize it and reviewed it before posting.